Last updated on September 2, 2023
Ethan Freeman, ex-Special Forces Ranger, wakes up to discover he is the sole survivor of a fiery commercial airline crash that killed his entire family. His nightmare is only beginning when he becomes the FBI’s prime suspect. Only Ethan knows he’s not a cold-hearted murderer, but he has no idea what happened to him–and why he alone survived.
He finds an unlikely ally in Sam Weaver, the NTSB Chief Investigator. An ex-military pilot, Sam senses Ethan is innocent. She tries to remain dispassionate in her investigation of the crash even as she finds herself attracted to the man who may be America’s worst homegrown mass-murderer.
A monstrous evil, imprisoned since the time of the Pharaohs, has been released by The Nine, a sinister group of powerful men and women who believe they are the direct descendants of the Anunnaki, ancient Sumerian gods. The demon they have unleashed intends to free The Destroyer from The Abyss, the angelic prison referred to in the Book of Revelation, and unleash a worldwide reign of terror and annihilation.
Facing impossible odds, time is running out for Ethan and all of humanity as he is drawn into an ever-deeper conspiracy–millennia in the making–and learns that he is the key to stopping The Nine.
As I meditated on those powerful words in terms of the present condition of our fallen world, a fascinating thought popped into my head. What would happen if my wife and I were on a commercial airliner that crashed within a few minutes of takeoff killing everyone on board—except us! We awaken exactly 24 hours later, at home, in our bed, dressed in the same clothes we’d worn to the airport. How would we explain what happened to us?
This is how all of my novels are born. A vivid opening scene, generally an action-filled, pulse-pounding sequence of events, but sometimes several lines of riveting dialog from a character I have yet to meet. In the case of Infernal Gates, the opening line was “Less than ten minutes before we’re all dead, thought Ethan Freeman, and there is nothing I can do about it!
I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer. I’ve never done an outline. All of my stories begin as movies in my head. I have a general idea about the plot, but it morphs into something bigger than my imagination over time. My characters are born, grow, and mature as I write. At some point, they take control. Then, all I do is transcribe as fast as I can whatever I see and hear.
Most of us, sadly, see the world three-dimensionally. But, as Rod Serling, the creator of The Twilight Zone was fond of saying: There is another dimension–a fourth dimension. A dimension not of sight or sound, or taste or touch, or hearing, but one that overlays the one we accept as the “real” world. A parallel universe layered over the terrestrial realm like a gossamer veil. In order to “see” into this realm and interact with it, we must use gifts given to us by God that transcend our fleshly bodies—and our souls.
I hope you’ll take a chance on an “unknown writer” and join me in my world.
Michael J. Webb graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida and obtained his J. D. from the same university. Over the past forty years, he has traveled the world in search of adventure.
He is a history buff, both ancient and modern, and is fascinated by the intersection of the scientific, supernatural, and Biblical world views, and has studied and taught from the Bible extensively for more than twenty-five years. He is also intrigued by recent discoveries in quantum physics that are now providing extraordinary insights into the reality of the spirit realm, especially as it relates to the study of Light. He incorporates all of the above into his supernatural thrillers.
Michael and his wife make their home in North Carolina.
